Albion boss Gus Poyet is continuing his hunt for midfielders after Owen Garvan mysteriously pulled out of a move from Crystal Palace.

The Seagulls agreed a fee in excess of £250,000 with their arch rivals for the 23-year-old Irishman.

But the deal collapsed for reasons Poyet refused to divulge.

He told The Argus: “When you agree terms with players and clubs and then they don’t come there are probably other reasons. I think you should ask Owen Garvan.

“If he says what we know, fine. If he changes the story then maybe we will come out and say what he told us.

“I really like Owen as a player. I liked him when he was at Ipswich and I tried to get him last year. We couldn’t because we were in League One.

“He was very happy when we talked about bringing him in. Everything was looking fine until yesterday.

“Something happened but we are not going to comment on that.

“The player that has changed my season is Craig Mackail-Smith, with all respect to Owen Garvan. We are moving forward and it's not a problem.”

Sources in South London indicated Garvan was expected to leave Palace's training camp in Exeter yesterday to complete the deal but he remained in the south-west instead.

Palace chief Dougie Freedman said: “Owen has decided to stay and wants to fight for his place in the team.”